Estonia's emplyoment growth in the first quarter of 2017 was the highest in the EU, totaling 2.8 percent compared to the previous quarter.

Estonia was followed by Malta with 1.7, Sweden with 1.2 and Ireland with 1.1 percent growth, data released by Eurostat on Wednesday shows.

The biggest decline in employment was recorded in Latvia, where it totaled 1.9 percent, while Romania, Croatia and Lithuania followed with declines of 1.2, 0.6 and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Compared to the first quarter of 2016, Estonia's employment growth was the eighth highest, totaling 2.2 percent.

The highest on-year employment growth was recorded in Malta, Ireland and Cyprus, at six, 3.5 and 3.4 percent, respectively. The biggest decrease, meanwhile, was recorded in Latvia at 2.8 percent, followed by Lithuania and Romania with a 0.4 percent decline each.

Employment grew by 1.5 percent on average in the eurozone and by 1.4 percent in the EU. Compared to the previous quarter, employment grew 0.4 percent in both the euro area and the EU during the first quarter of 2017.

Eurostat estimates that in the first quarter of 2017, a total of 234.2 million men and women were employed in the EU, 154.8 million of whom were in the euro area, indicating a record high for both figures.